IELTS GENERAL READING (KEY)

READING TEST ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 1NOT GIVEN 2NOT GIVEN 3FALSE 4NOT GIVEN 5TRUE 6FALSE 7FALSE 8x 9i 10v 11ii 12ix 13iv 14viii 15FALSE 16NOT GIVEN 17TRUE 18FALSE 19TRUE 20NOT GIVEN ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 21J 22K 23E 24A 25G 26I 27C 28A 29C 30E 31F 32B 33G 34E 35D 36NOT GIVEN 37TRUE 38FALSE 39FALSE 40TRUE READING PASSAGE You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-14, which are based on Reading Passage below MAIL ORDER BROCHURE Want some great clothing ideas for your family? Our key for clothing specials in July: M for men, W for women, C for children For under $10 Cotton socks C - made of pure cotton for long wearing Woollen socks C - to keep young feet warm in winter Sports socks M - to go with jeans and other casual clothes Patterned belts W - to go with jeans and other casual clothes For under $25 Cotton shirts W - for day and evening wear Silk shirts M - five sizes, in designer colours, for that special social occasion T shirts C - hard-wearing, white with a variety of animal motifs Colour T-shirts M W - cotton and polyester blend, plain colours, no ironing For under $50 Blue jeans M W - non-shrink, colourfast, small sizes only Silk shirts M W - plain and patterned, all sizes Hooded jacket C - protects from the wind, sizes, large strong pockets jacket W - waterproof with zipper front, all sizes Or you can buy a gift voucher so that someone else can choose These come in $10, $20 and $50 amounts Additional monthly specials for July to September July - $10 voucher with any purchase over $60 August - Travel alarm clock worth $19.95 free with purchases of $80 or more! September - Children's backpacks Free with any credit card purchase over $75! Note: Postage and packing charges These are applied to each order as follows: Within Australia: $7.95 per address, regular post $17.95 for Express Delivery Service (overnight) Overseas: Surface Mail (allow a minimum of two months for delivery) Airmail (allow around two weeks delivery to most destinations) New Book Releases A This book describes the creativity of Aboriginal people living in the driest parts of Australia Stunning reproductions of paintings, beautiful photography and informative text B Pocket-sized maps and illustrations with detailed information on the nesting sites and migration patterns of Australia This is a classic booklet suitable for both beginner and expert C Packed full of information for the avid hiker, this book is a must Photographs, maps and practical advice will guide your journeys on foot through the forests of the southern continent D More than an atlas - this book contains maps, photographs and an abundance of information on the land and climate of countries from around the globe E Australia's premier mountain biking guidebook - taking you through a host of national parks and state forests F Here's the A-Z of Australian native animals - take an in-depth look at their lives and characteristics, through fantastic photographs and informative text G Graphic artists have worked with researchers and scientists to illustrate how these prehistoric animals lived and died on the Australian continent H A definitive handbook on outdoor safety - with a specific focus on equipment, nutrition, first aid, special clothing and bush skills I Detailed guides to 15 scenic car tours that will take you onto fascinating wilderness tracks and along routes that you could otherwise have missed READING PASSAGE You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 15-27, which are based on Reading Passage below WORK & TRAVEL USA Do you want to have the best summer holiday ever? Have you just graduated and want to escape for a unique experience abroad? Only $1950 will make It all happen! This unbeatable program fee includes: ● return flight from Sydney to Los Angeles (onward travel in USA not included) ● months' insurance cover ● nights' accommodation on arrival plus meet and greet and airport transfer ● arrival orientation by experienced InterExchange staff ● visa application fees You also have: ● access to a J-l visa enabling you to work in the USA ● an extensive directory of employers ● InterExchange support throughout the program ● 24-hour emergency support throughout the length of the program Call toll-free 1800 678 738 InterExchange has 50 years' experience in international student exchange programs 18,000 students from around the world travel yearly to the USA on this very program InterExchange can also offer you work opportunities in other countries WHAT IS INTEREXCHANGE? InterExchange, one of the world's leading operators of international exchange programs and related services: ● is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation ● has 700 professional staff in 30 countries worldwide ● was founded in 1947 InterExchange operates these programs for students all around the world It offers you trained and travelled staff, plus full support during the application process You can choose any job that interests you anywhere in the USA, whether that is working in a law firm in Boston, a famous ski resort in Colorado or serving coffee and doughnuts in the buzzing streets of New York You can select the period you work and the period you travel; you may want to work for month and travel for 3, or work the entire duration of your stay The choice is yours YOU CAN TAKE UP THIS OPPORTUNITY IF YOU ARE: ● a full-time student at an Australian university or TAFE college ● presently enrolled, or finishing this year, or you have deferred a year of study ● over 18 years old by November in the academic year in which you apply to InterExchange ● enthusiastic about the experience of a lifetime Sign up now!! A about Arthur Phillip College G learning methods B entry requirements H course fees C orientation for new students I study commitment D academic counselling service J assessment and results E credit courses to university K social activities and clubs F assistance for international students L what's new READING PASSAGE You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28-40, which are based on Reading Passage below LACK OF SLEEP Section A It is estimated that the average man or woman needs between seven-and-a-half and eight hours' sleep a night Some can manage on a lot less Baroness Thatcher, for example, was reported to be able to get by on four hours' sleep a night when she was Prime Minister of Britain Dr Jill Wilkinson, senior lecturer in psychology at Surrey University and co-author of 'Psychology in Counselling and Therapeutic Practice', states that healthy individuals sleeping less than five hours or even as little as two hours in every 24 hours are rare, but represent a sizeable minority Section B The latest beliefs are that the main purposes of sleep are to enable the body to rest and replenish, allowing time for repairs to take place and for tissue to be regenerated One supporting piece of evidence for this rest-and-repair theory is that production of the growth hormone somatotropin, which helps tissue to regenerate, peaks while we are asleep Lack of sleep, however, can compromise the immune system, muddle thinking, cause depression, promote anxiety and encourage irritability Section C Researchers in San Diego deprived a group of men of sleep between a.m and a.m on just one night, and found that levels of their bodies' natural defences against viral infections had fallen significantly when measured the following morning 'Sleep is essential for our physical and emotional well-being and there are few aspects of daily living that are not disrupted by the lack of it', says Professor William Regelson of Virginia University, a specialist in insomnia 'Because it can seriously undermine the functioning of the immune system, sufferers are vulnerable to infection.' Section D For many people, lack of sleep is rarely a matter of choice Some have problems getting to sleep, others with staying asleep until the morning Despite popular belief that sleep is one long event, research shows that, in an average night, there are five stages of sleep and four cycles, during which the sequence of stages is repeated In the first light phase, the heart rate and blood pressure go down and the muscles relax In the next two stages, sleep gets progressively deeper In stage four, usually reached after an hour, the slumber is so deep that, if awoken, the sleeper would be confused and disorientated It is in this phase that sleep-walking can occur, with an average episode lasting no more than 15 minutes In the fifth stage, the rapid eye movement (REM) stage, the heartbeat quickly gets back to normal levels, brain activity accelerates to daytime heights and above and the eyes move constantly beneath closed lids as if the sleeper is looking at something During this stage, the body is almost paralysed This REM phase is also the time when we dream Section E Sleeping patterns change with age, which is why many people over 60 develop insomnia In America, that age group consumes almost half the sleep medication on the market One theory for the age-related change is that it is due to hormonal changes The temperature rise occurs at daybreak in the young, but at three or four in the morning in the elderly Age aside, it is estimated that roughly one in three people suffer some kind of sleep disturbance Causes can be anything from pregnancy and stress to alcohol and heart disease Smoking is a known handicap to sleep, with one survey showing that ex-smokers got to sleep in 18 minutes rather than their earlier average of 52 minutes Section F Apart from self-help therapy such as regular exercise, there are psychological treatments, including relaxation training and therapy aimed at getting rid of pre-sleep worries and anxieties There is also sleep reduction therapy, where the aim is to improve sleep quality by strictly regulating the time people go to bed and when they get up Medication is regarded by many as a last resort and often takes the form of sleeping pills, normally benzodiazepines, which are minor tranquillisers Section G Professor Regelson advocates the use of melatonin for treating sleep disorders Melatonin is a naturally secreted hormone, located in the pineal gland deep inside the brain The main function of the hormone is to control the body's biological clock, so we know when to sleep and when to wake The gland detects light reaching it through the eye; when there is no light, it secretes the melatonin into the bloodstream, lowering the body temperature and helping to induce sleep Melatonin pills contain a synthetic version of the hormone and are commonly used for jet lag as well as for sleep disturbance John Nicholls, sales manager of one of America's largest health food shops, claims that sales of the pill have increased dramatically He explains that it is sold in capsules, tablets, lozenges and mixed with herbs It is not effective for all insomniacs, but many users have weaned themselves off sleeping tablets as a result of its application READING TEST ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 1E 2C 3B 4D 5A 6E 7C 8aluminium drink can 9telephone book 10magazines 11YES 12YES 13NO 14NOT GIVEN 15G 16D 17F 18B 19YES 20NO ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 21YES 22YES 23NOT GIVEN 24viii 25iv 26i 27v 28A 29C 30B 31C 32luminaries 33downside 34novel 35issue 36frown 37TRUE 38TRUE 39NOT GIVEN 40TRUE READING PASSAGE Read the information below and answer Questions 1-7 ONLINE TUTORS ONLINE Tutors are excellent EFL/ESL teachers from around the world! They can be your private English tutor right on your computer! To send an email message to an ONLINE Tutor, just click on the name and write a short message to introduce yourself! A I Astrid Manyana (F 46) Chile Special offer for Spanish speakers: bilingual teaching of English grammar and explanations in Spanish 25 years’ experience teaching all levels from age 15 to 55 Basics, oral, written, specific interests [eg: tourism] and preparation for Cambridge and IELTS exams I can make speaking English easy for you! B John Bennett-Smfth (M 27) Canada I have been teaching English conversation as a volunteer in a language centre in my city for about one year I have also been using e-mail ICQ and NetMeeting to teach grammar, composition and conversation over the Internet to about 20 or so students for about the same length of time I am willing to teach (free of charge), privately or to groups, and to teach those language skills which are of interest to a paticular student C Pamela Arrowsmltfi (F 56) Australia service to the city centre 10 km away International House is also being used to enhance on-campus training, from Monday to Friday, Year students, supervised by 2nd Years, are assigned kitchen, waiting, housekeeping and receptionist duties Simulated check-in/check-out exercises, receptionist duties and breakfast service to a limited number of rooms are also part of the program Look at the passage below and answer Questions 24-27 on the previous page INTERNATIONAL HOTEL MANAGEMENT DIPLOMA Short Courses A This certificate is designed for participants wishing to acquire the skills to perform duties relevant to a front office receptionist working within a range of hospitality establishments Course includes: front office and organisational structure, role and duties of front office personnel, guests’ reservations and registrations, check-in and check-out procedures, guest accounting and management reports B This certifícate is designed for participants wishing to develop a solid understanding of, and the ability to perform duties and skills required in advanced front office operations and night auditing Course includes: night auditing procedures, daily records and reports, early and late arrivals, security duties, bell desk/concierge, guest service and information, advanced cashiering, supervision of payments, banking operations, debtor control and financial reports C This certificate is designed for participants wishing to acquire the skills relevant to table attendant duties within an a la carte restaurant Course includes: table setting for a variety of menus, plate and silver service, tray and wine service, ordering and docket systems, wine styles and label identification, food and wine combinations D This certificate is designed for participants wishing to acquire the skills to perform a bar attendant’s duties within range of industry settings Course includes: bar preparation, cash handling, beer service, patron care, basic cocktail mixing, product knowledge READING PASSAGE Read the text below and answer Questions 28-40 As More Tech Start-Ups Stay Private, So Does the Money Not long ago, if you were a young, brash technologist with a world-conquering start-up idea, there was a good chance you spent much of your waking life working toward a single business milestone: taking your company public   Though luminaries of the tech industry have always expressed skepticism and even hostility toward the finance industry, tech’s dirty secret was that it looked to Wall Street and the ritual of a public offering for affirmation — not to mention wealth   But something strange has happened in the last couple of years: The initial public offering of stock has become déclassé For start-up entrepreneurs and their employees across Silicon Valley, an initial public offering is no longer a main goal Instead, many founders talk about going public as a necessary evil to be postponed as long as possible because it comes with more problems than benefits   “If you can get $200 million from private sources, then yeah, I don’t want my company under the scrutiny of the unwashed masses who don’t understand my business,” said Danielle Morrill, the chief executive of Mattermark, a start-up that organizes and sells information about the start-up market “That’s actually terrifying to me   Silicon Valley’s sudden distaste for the I.P.O — rooted in part in Wall Street’s skepticism of new tech stocks — may be the single most important psychological shift underlying the current tech boom Staying private affords start-up executives the luxury of not worrying what outsiders think and helps them avoid the quarterly earnings treadmill   It also means Wall Street is doing what it failed to in the last tech boom: using traditional metrics like growth and profitability to price companies Investors have been tough on Twitter, for example, because its user growth has slowed They have been tough on Box, the cloud-storage company that went public last year, because it remains unprofitable And the e-commerce company Zulily, which went public last year, was likewise punished when it cut its guidance for future sales   Scott Kupor, the managing partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and his colleagues said in a recent report that despite all the attention start-ups have received in recent years, tech stocks are not seeing unusually high valuations In fact, their share of the overall market has remained stable for 14 years, and far off the peak of the late 1990s   That unwillingness to cut much slack to young tech companies limits risk for regular investors If the bubble pops, the unwashed masses, if that’s what we are, aren’t as likely to get washed out   Private investors, on the other hand, are making big bets on so-called unicorns — the Silicon Valley jargon for start-up companies valued at more than a billion dollars If many of those unicorns flop, most Americans will escape unharmed, because losses will be confined to venture capitalists and hedge funds that have begun to buy into tech start-ups, as well as tech founders and their employees   The reluctance — and sometimes inability — to go public is spurring the unicorns By relying on private investors for a longer period of time, start-ups get more runway to figure out sustainable business models To delay their entrance into the public markets, firms like Airbnb, Dropbox, Palantir, Pinterest, Uber and several other large start-ups are raising hundreds of millions, and in some cases billions, that they would otherwise have gained through an initial public offering   “These companies are going public, just in the private market,” Dan Levitan, the managing partner of the venture capital firm Maveron, told me recently He means that in many cases, hedge funds and other global investors that would have bought shares in these firms after an I.P.O are deciding to go into late-stage private rounds There is even an oxymoronic term for the act of obtaining private money in place of a public offering: It’s called a “private I.P.O.”   The delay in I.P.O.s has altered how some venture capital firms business Rather than waiting for an initial offering, Maveron, for instance, says it now sells its stake in a start-up to other, larger private investors once it has made about 100 times its initial investment It is the sort of return that once was only possible after an I.P.O   But there is also a downside to the new aversion to initial offerings When the unicorns eventually go public and begin to soar — or whatever it is that fantastical horned beasts tend to when they’re healthy — the biggest winners will be the private investors that are now bearing most of the risk   It used to be that public investors who got in on the ground floor of an initial offering could earn historic gains If you invested $1,000 in Amazon at its I.P.O in 1997, you would now have nearly $250,000 If you had invested $1,000 in Microsoft in 1986, you would have close to half a million Public investors today are unlikely to get anywhere near such gains from tech I.P.O.s By the time tech companies come to the market, the biggest gains have already been extracted by private backers   Just 53 technology companies went public in 2014, which is around the median since 1980, but far fewer than during the boom of the late 1990s and 2000, when hundreds of tech companies went public annually, according to statistics maintained by Jay Ritter, a professor of finance at the University of Florida Today’s companies are also waiting longer In 2014, the typical tech company hitting the markets was 11 years old, compared with a median age of seven years for tech I.P.O.s since 1980   Over the last few weeks, I’ve asked several founders and investors why they’re waiting; few were willing to speak on the record about their own companies, but their answers all amounted to “What’s the point?”   Initial public offerings were also ways to compensate employees and founders who owned lots of stock, but there are now novel mechanisms — such as selling shares on a secondary market — for insiders to cash in on some of their shares in private companies Still, some observers cautioned that the new trend may be a bad deal for employees who aren’t given much information about the company’s performance   “One thing employees may be confused about is when companies tell them, ‘We’re basically doing a private I.P.O.,’ it might make them feel like there’s less risk than there really is,” said Ms Morrill of Mattermark But she said it was hard to persuade people that their paper gains may never materialize “The Kool-Aid is really strong,” she said   If the delay in I.P.O.s becomes a normal condition for Silicon Valley, some observers say tech companies may need to consider new forms of compensation for workers “We probably need to fundamentally rethink how private companies compensate employees, because that’s going to be an issue,” said Mr Kupor, of Andreessen Horowitz   During a recent presentation for Andreessen Horowitz’s limited partners — the institutions that give money to the venture firm — Marc Andreessen, the firm’s co-founder, told the journalist Dan Primack that he had never seen a sharper divergence in how investors treat publicand private-company chief executives “They tell the public C.E.O., ‘Give us the money back this quarter,’ and they tell the private C.E.O., ‘No problem, go for 10 years,’ ” Mr Andreessen said   At some point this tension will be resolved “Private valuations will not forever be higher than public valuations,” said Mr Levitan, of Maveron “So the question is, Will private markets capitulate and go down or will public markets go up?”   If the private investors are wrong, employees, founders and a lot of hedge funds could be in for a reckoning But if they’re right, it will be you and me wearing the frown — the public investors who missed out on the next big thing READING TEST ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 1Developmental art 25.00 3North Gallery 4Greek Olympic Sculpture 5632 6132 7317 8122 9443 10H 11G 12A 13B 14FALSE 15NOT GIVEN 16FALSE 17TRUE 18FALSE 19TRUE 20NOT GIVEN ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 21TRUE 22B 23A 24C 25B 26A 27C 28language development 29innate 30models/model speakers 31exaggerate 32recognise 33frequently 34conversation 35YES 36YES 37NOT GIVEN 38NO 39NO 40NOT GIVEN READING PASSAGE Read the text below and answer Questions 1-4 ART GALLERY The Art Gallery’s mission is to bring diverse forms of art and craft to the people of this city NEW YEAR FESTIVITIES A multimedia exhibition from the four corners of the earth On show in the Hanson Theatre, Level 2, Main Building Free Opens January 1, closes March 20 THE ART OF THE EARLY WEST American art of the westward expansion On show in the South Gallery, Level $15.00 adults, $5.00 for members, $4.50 for students Opens March 13, closes June 30 GREEK OLYMPIC SCULPTURE A historical exhibit of work by ancient artists In the North Gallery $10 adults, $8 for members, $6 for students Opens July 1, closes August DEVELOPMENTAL ART Work by gifted local school children On show in the East Gallery $2 Donations may be left In the box at the exit, and will be gratefully received Opens July 25, closes September 30 Headsets are available for the Greek Olympic Sculpture only A fee of $6 per adult, $5 for members and $4.50 for students will be charged Read the text below and answer Questions 5-9 MOTORISTS' ASSOCIATION Call our main number 9292 9222 then enter these extensions MEMBER SERVICES, ROAD SERVICE AND INSURANCE FINANCIAL SERVICES (8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 11 am Saturday) All insurance enquiries 133 Home Loans 701 Credit card payments Visa, Mastercard for membership and insurance policies (open 24/7) 344 Life Insurance 976 Teleclaims For motor vehicle claims 123 (open 24/7) Personal Loans 978 HELPLINE LEGAL ADVICE (8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) Road Service (open 24/7) 114 Sydney 191 HOME SECURITY 553 Newcastle 132 Alarm systems 554 Wollongong 132 TECHNICAL ADVICE (8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 11 am Saturday) For road tests, car buying, advice and assistance on motoring problems Local call charge 443 Canberra 426 Child restraint enquiries 632 SMASH REPAIRS Repairs guaranteed for life, (7.30am to pm, Monday to Friday) 900 Recorded road report for major highways 222 Batteries 111 DRIVE TRAVEL 122 Local touring information and attraction tickets SERVICE (HEARING IMPAIRED) Road Service 317 nsurance enquiries 728 VEHICLE INSPECTIONS (7am to 10 pm) 300 362 802 Read the text below and answer Questions 10-13 ADVICE TO MOTORISTS A Always lock your car and never leave your keys in the car Sounds obvious, but how often have you left your car unlocked while you paid for fuel at a service station or dashed into a shop? A recently-passed law will ensure that you never forget again — heavy penalties apply B Always lock valuables in the boot Most car crime is opportunistic, so don't make it easy And if something is too valuable to lose, the golden rule is, take it with you C Thieves need little incentive Most thefts from cars are carried out by youngsters looking for nothing more than a few dollars, so don.'t leave coin-holders if they can be seen from outside The cost of repairs often far outweighs the value of what is stolen D At night, always try to park in a brightly-lit area where your vehicle can be seen by passers-by Poorly-lit streets are a thief's favourite hunting ground E Never park where you can see broken glass from car windows on the ground Thieves are creatures of habit and will return to the scene of past successes F Install a car alarm G Where available, use car parks that are well lit and have boom gates Don't leave your parking ticket in the car H In high-risk areas leave your glove box and ashtray open to show thieves that there is nothing in the car worth taking .. .READING PASSAGE You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-14, which are based on Reading Passage below MAIL ORDER BROCHURE Want some... along routes that you could otherwise have missed READING PASSAGE You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 15-27, which are based on Reading Passage below WORK & TRAVEL USA Do you want... assistance for international students L what's new READING PASSAGE You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28-40, which are based on Reading Passage below LACK OF SLEEP Section A It is